Emily Lyth (Stir) reports that the Vancouver Art Gallery has appointed Jillian Christmas as inaugural poet-in-residence. The “award-winning Afro-Caribbean-Canadian multidisciplinary artist has previously worked with the Vancouver Writers Fest and Verses Festival of Words.” Christmas will host a program at the gallery titled “A Day of Delight” on February 16, 2024. [Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.]
THE VANCOUVER ART GALLERY has just announced queer Afro-Caribbean-Canadian multidisciplinary artist Jillian Christmas as its first-ever poet-in-residence.
The acclaimed poet, writer, educator, activist, and curator is set to work alongside the gallery’s Department of Public Engagement & Learning in her new role, which will entail extending gallery programming and elevating conversations with the public.
“We are honoured and excited to welcome Jillian Christmas as the gallery’s first poet-in-residence,” says Anthony Kiendl, the Vancouver Art Gallery’s CEO and executive director, in a press statement today. “Her unique approach and interpretation of art through the lens of poetry will inspire vibrant conversations and engagement, adding a new layer of depth and understanding to our exhibits and enhancing our shared understanding of what an art gallery can be.”
Christmas became the first Canadian finalist of the Women of the World Poetry Slam in 2015 with the presentation of her slam poem “Black Feminist”, which was later published in her debut collection, The Gospel of Breaking, in 2020. She has previously assumed roles with the Vancouver Writers Fest as spoken-word curator, and with the Verses Festival of Words as artistic director.
Christmas’s work often draws upon themes of family, heritage, and identity. [. . .]
For full article, see https://www.createastir.ca/articles/vancouver-art-gallery-jillian-christmas-poet-in-residence
Emily Lyth (Stir) reports that the Vancouver Art Gallery has appointed Jillian Christmas as inaugural poet-in-residence. The “award-winning Afro-Caribbean-Canadian multidisciplinary artist has previously worked with the Vancouver Writers Fest and Verses Festival of Words.” Christmas will host a program at the gallery titled “A Day of Delight” on February 16, 2024. [Many thanks to Peter
